1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to small-scale portable fluid flushing methods and their implementation devices, and more specifically to a small-scale portable recyclable fluid flushing method used for the emergency flushing of irritants or inflammatory agents from the skin or eyes, or for flushing infectious debris from wounds when no other fluid source is available.
2. Description of Prior Art
Small-scale portable fluid flushing devices for the flushing of the eyes and skin, or for flushing wounds, are self-contained supplementary flushing fluid units intended to be used only under exigent circumstances as an emergency resort when no other flushing fluid source is available. The American National Standard for Emergency Eye Wash and Deluge Shower Equipment, ANSI Z358.1-1998, states that “Medical and industrial experiences have shown that the initial first aid treatment for chemical splash should be to wash the eyes for the minimum 15 minutes prior to first aid treatment. It is important to hold the eyelids open and roll the eyeballs so that the flushing solution used will flow on all surfaces and in the folds surrounding the eyeballs.” It is also cited that the first 10 seconds after having toxic substances coming in contact with the eye are the most critical as that is the brief amount of time during which one must begin flushing the substance away before damage begins to sensitive eye tissues. Similarly, it is recommended by most medical authorities that minor wounds and abrasions, e.g. gravel rash from a fall, or cuts, or deep scratches, or penetrating wounds such as from animal bites or from a fish hook, be immediately flushed of dirt or other foreign debris with sterile or clean water as a first aid measure to lessen the risk of infection prior to emergency bandaging with any clean cloth material.
Prior art small-scale prior art portable fluid flushing methods for the emergency flushing of the eyes and skin, or for flushing wounds, typically have implementation devices which are simple and easy to operate. Generally a prior art small-scale portable flushing container will hold a limited supply of flushing fluid, typically in the range of 118 ml to 472 ml (4 to 16 oz), or a larger predetermined supply. Usually the flushing fluid is sterile or clean water, or a water-based solution for eliminating chemicals from the eyes or skin, or for flushing dirt and debris from a wound. The various prior art eye, skin or wound flushing methods respectively have appreciated features such as easy to use fluid containers which typically utilize either squeezable bottles, or pressurized containers, or manually or electrically operated dispersal pumps. Some of the portable flushing methods and devices intended for eye flushing have a manually operated bladder or a gravity-operated streaming water dispersal system typically utilizing capped dispersal outlets which when uncapped allow water to flow upward into the eyes. Some of the prior art devices also capture the contaminated spillage and runoff for later disposal.
The majority of prior art references which consider portable fluid flushing methods and their implementation devices do so with a view toward making improvements on the form or manner in which the emergency flushing fluid is housed and dispersed, or how the flushing delivery system itself will operate. Only one prior art reference located concerning small-scale portable flushing devices considers the possibility of a filtered recycling of a fixed amount of flushing liquid under containment, but the overall purpose and method of the filtering media and the dispersal device in the reference is clearly distinct from the overall purpose and method of the filtering media and dispersal devices utilized in the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,237 issued to Herman Sacks on Jul. 19, 1988, entitled “Device for Applying Liquid to the Corneal Surface of the Eye”, discloses a device for transversely circulating an eyewashing liquid, such as boric acid, which is applied to the eye via an upwardly disposed eyecup during the recirculation process to provide a gentle transverse rinse across the surface of a downward-facing eye. A filter material such as Dacron is incidentally added into the fluid circulation system of the device specifically to remove dust and debris. There is no mention in the Sacks patent specification nor in the independent claim that the filtering media is essential to the operation of the device, nor any anticipation that the filtering media should or could be of a type that will remove specific chemicals during the recirculation process prior to fluid reintroduction to the eye. There is also no indication in this reference that the device should or could utilize a manually operated pumping mechanism. Additionally, the gentle flushing process described and claimed in the reference would be insufficient for the type of more forceful flushing necessary to operate in terms of the method of the present invention. The reference as described and claimed does not anticipate, nor could it function in the method of the present invention.
A second small-scale prior art reference, U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,461 issued to Randall L. Woods on Mar. 17, 1987, entitled “Extracapasular Cortex Irrigation and Extraction”, discloses a device for recirculating an irrigation fluid through various types of filters. The design and method of the device limits it to exclusive use for the surgical art of extracapasular cataract extraction and thus the device would serve no useful purpose in terms of the design or method of the present invention. No portion of the Woods patent specification or claims indicates a further use for the device as a portable flushing method for the external portions of the eyes, or for flushing the skin or for flushing a wound.
All of the presently known small-scale prior art portable flushing devices used for the emergency flushing of the eyes, skin or for flushing wounds, are limited in the amount of useable flushing fluid that can be easily carried and used in a crisis situation before a refill or replacement of the fluid container is necessary. No known small-scale prior art portable flushing method or device has thus far been designed to capture contaminated runoff and spillage fluid with the intent to filter out contaminants from a recyclable fluid dispersal stream so that a limited fluid supply may be immediately filtered and reused for flushing purposes under emergency circumstances, i.e. where no other clean fluid supply is available. The critical need for such a small-scale portable recyclable fluid flushing method presents itself, for example, when an isolated victim of a chemical spray or spill is temporarily blinded, or in pain from a chemical burn, or, for example, when a wound victim is unable to immediately obtain emergency treatment prior to first-aid bandaging.